Make Room for Jesus
Not too long ago, the priest giving the homily at Mass said something that has stayed with me ever since. He said, “We have to make room for Jesus in our lives.” The words were simple enough, but they settled somewhere deep within me. As I walked out of church that day, I found myself wondering: What does it really mean to make room for Jesus? Where, in the crowded landscape of my life, am I supposed to find that room? Will making room for Jesus require me to add something else to a life that already feels overly full?
At first, I imagined that making room for Jesus meant doing “more,” as in lengthening my prayer time, going more frequently to daily Mass, and spending more time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Though these are beautiful and necessary ways of drawing closer to Christ, I gradually began to understand that perhaps making room for Jesus is not always about doing more, but instead about becoming more attentive. It is about listening for the quiet invitations that come throughout the day. It’s the gentle voice from within that asks me to slow down, notice, be patient, forgive, and love when it would be easier to walk away.
Once I began listening more carefully, I realized how many opportunities I had been missing. Jesus was not necessarily asking me to escape the busyness of my life. He was asking me to encounter Him within it. After all, Jesus tells us that whatever we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we do for Him. Christ is not confined to the sanctuary or to the moments when we kneel in prayer. He dwells within each person we encounter.
Making room for Jesus, then, might mean making a meal for a friend who has just had surgery, not because I have extra time, but because love sometimes asks us to give what little time we have. It might mean holding the door for the woman struggling to get herself and her child in a stroller out of the store. It might mean walking patiently behind an elderly person using a walker rather than rushing past in frustration. It might mean putting down my phone and truly listening when someone needs to talk to me. It might even mean admitting when I have made a mistake, saying “I’m sorry” without defending myself, or seeking forgiveness when I have unintentionally hurt someone. These moments may seem small, but perhaps love is best revealed in the small things.
To me, making room for Jesus means creating space within myself for compassion where impatience once lived, for humility where pride once stood, and for generosity where selfishness once reigned. It means allowing Christ to interrupt my plans and rearrange my priorities. It means recognizing that sometimes the interruption is the invitation. It does not necessarily mean finding more hours in the day. It means giving Jesus the hours I already have. It means seeing differently, listening more closely and loving more deliberately. It means recognizing Jesus in the faces of the people placed in my path and understanding that each encounter carries the possibility of grace.
Perhaps, then, the question is not whether there is enough room in my schedule for Jesus, but instead whether I am willing to make room in my heart. Because Jesus may not be asking for an appointment on my calendar or a place on my to-do list. He may simply be asking me to notice Him, to listen long enough to hear Him, and to love Him in the people standing right in front of me. I have found that when I make room for Him in the ordinary moments of my everyday life, I discover that He has been there all along.
Deb Egan grew up in a Catholic family. Throughout her adult life, she has participated as a church volunteer in many capacities, including teaching Religious Education, being a Eucharistic Minister and Lector, Ministering to the elderly and homebound, and Facilitating Small Faith Groups. She has been trained by Evangelical Catholic and became a member of the Build the Faith Team in April of 2017.
